publications
October 20, 2020
COVID-19 in Juvenile Facilities
The widespread incidence of COVID-19 inflicts devastating impacts on incarcerated youth, their families, the staff who work in those facilities, and the communities they call home. The Sentencing Project is tracking COVID-19 positive diagnoses among youth and staff at juvenile facilities and the number of known cases in each state.
publications
October 14, 2020
Free the Vote
A new video by The Sentencing Project introduces you to four Americans eager to vote and regain their rights of citizenship.
July 26, 2017
Dr. Stanley Andrisse
From prison cells to PhD, Dr. Stanley Andrisse shares his transformation to inspire those impacted by the criminal justice system.
publications
September 30, 2020
Youth Justice Under the Coronavirus: Linking Public Health Protections with the Movement for Youth Decarceration
Despite almost two decades of declines in U.S. youth incarceration, The Sentencing Project reveals more than 1,800 incarcerated youth have tested positive for COVID-19 since March, including more than 300 cases in Florida and Texas.
news
September 28, 2020
Race & Justice News: Disarming Traffic Enforcement
Sentencing disparities examined in Massachusetts and Washtenaw County, Michigan, federal prosecutors targeted black communities while handling DC gun charges, Berkley to disarms traffic enforcement, and more in Race & Justice News.
Willie Mays Aikens
In 2008, Willie Mays Aikens made headlines when a federal judge reduced his lengthy prison term to 14 years as a result of the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s adjustment to the crack cocaine sentencing guidelines. Aikens was released in June 2008.
news
August 26, 2020
State Advocacy Update: From Defund the Police to Defund Prisons
The Sentencing Project hosted an online discussion highlighting efforts in California and Colorado to decarcerate and prioritize funding towards crime prevention and community.
publications
August 25, 2020
Trends in U.S. Corrections
The Sentencing Project's key fact sheet provides a compilation of major developments in the criminal justice system over the past several decades.
Dorothy Gaines
Dorothy Gaines's life changed when Alabama state police raided her home for drugs. Police found no evidence of Gaines having possessed or sold drugs, yet federal prosecutors charged Gaines with drug conspiracy.
news
August 18, 2020
People with felony convictions under supervision are barred from voting. Let them be heard.
North Carolina's felony disenfranchisement law mutes the political voices of Black residents, preventing them from meaningfully changing systems that, like the criminal justice system, so often discriminate against them.
news
August 17, 2020
Disenfranchisement News: Iowa Gov. Ends Lifetime Ban on Voting for People with Felony Convictions
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed an executive order restoring the right to vote for people with felony convictions. Iowa was the only state that still permanently disenfranchised those with felony convictions unless the governor intervened.
Marlo Hargrove and David Waller
Marlo Hargrove and David Waller both successfully regained their voting rights after receiving felony convictions and serving their sentences.
publications
August 07, 2020
Amicus Brief in Support of North Carolina Felony Disenfranchisement Lawsuit
North Carolina felony disenfranchisement law amplifies the hardship that the criminal justice system disproportionately visits upon Black Americans; exacerbates stark racial disparities in income, wealth, and economic opportunity; and unduly mutes the voices of Black North Carolinians in public affairs.
publications
July 31, 2020
Testimony: Mandatory Minimum Sentencing in Virginia
Testimony Delivered by Ashley Nellis, Ph.D., Senior Research Analyst, The Sentencing Project For the Virginia House of Delegates Joint Meeting of Courts of Justice and Public Safety Committees
Lawrence and Lamont Garrison
Sentences for federal drug crimes are based on the quantity of the drugs involved, not the individual’s role in the crime. The emphasis on quantity rather than the role of the offender, along with the conspiracy laws, too often result in disproportionate sentencing, even for first-time offenses such as the Garrisons’.
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